Global demand for air freight increased 9.4% in May compared to pre-pandemic levels, IATA data shows. The increase marks a slight slowdown in the pace of growth compared with April, when demand rose 12% from the same month in 2019, IATA says. North American carriers contributed 4.6 percentage points to the demand increase, and airlines in all other regions apart from Latin America saw growth. Capacity remains 9.7% below that of May 2019, amid the ongoing grounding of passenger aircraft. The global load factor stood at 57.2% in May, with Asia-Pacific and Europe registering 64.6% and 65.6%, respectively. IATA also notes that the competitiveness of air freight compared to sea freight has improved, stating that it is now only six times more expensive than sea shipping, compared with 12 times more expensive before the Covid-19 crisis. Willie Walsh, IATA's director general, expects a shift in consumption from goods to services as economies unlock. "This could slow growth for cargo in general, but improved competitiveness compared to sea shipping should continue to make air cargo a bright spot for airlines while passenger demand struggles with continued border closures and travel restrictions," he states.

Porter Airlines intends to resume operations on 8 September, following months of delays as the regional carrier watched for signs that Canada would loosen travel restrictions and that demand for flights would return. The Toronto-based carrier had previously aimed to restart operations in July, but now says its flight schedule "is returning in phases".
"Approximately 500 team members will be recalled to active status as the first phase of flights are introduced," says the airline. "More staff will be added in subsequent months as flights and destinations return to the schedule." Porter will on 8 September restart domestic operations, beginning with routes within a network spanning Halifax, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, St John's, Thunder Bay and Toronto. Flights to the USA will resume on 17 September, starting with routes to Boston, Chicago, New York, and Washington DC. Porter shuttered its operations in March 2020. Canada's government provided no direct funding for that nation's airlines that year, but has since made loans available to airlines through its Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF). Porter chief executive Michael Deluce on 30 June announced a federal loan for C$270 million ($219 million), including C$20 million set aside for passenger refunds. "We intend to draw on these funds as required in support of re-establishing operations through an uncertain period of travel demand," Deluce states. "Our immediate focus is on being ready to fly again as soon as public health conditions allow and governments modify travel restrictions.” Canada's two largest airlines WestJet and Air Canada are set to increase capacity on their networks from July through September as the national government re-evaluates travel restrictions in light of vaccinations against Covid-19. Leisure carrier Air Transat plans to resume operations on 30 July.

IATA director general Willie Walsh has hit out at continued uncertainty over European Commission plans for airport slot rules this winter, amid concerns the strong uptick in summer capacity will prompt too high a threshold for minimum use levels being set. European regulators temporarily suspended the existing 'use it or lose it' airport slots rules – which require airlines to operate 80% of slots in a season to retain them for the following year – when the pandemic first hit last summer. That alleviation continued last winter and again this summer, albeit with a requirement for airlines to operate 50% of their slots to retain them for summer 2022. The Commission is still to formally publish proposals for the coming northern hemisphere winter season, which begins at the end of October. European transport commissioner Adina Valean told delegates at the Airlines for Europe (A4E) Summit last month that it was still evaluating the data before deciding on the levels. But in a blog post, Walsh hits out at the European Commission's approach to the issue and raises concerns that it is looking at implementing a 60% threshold for the coming winter season. "Clearly when demand is down 80%, greater flexibility is required – otherwise, unnecessary flights to destinations where demand is nonexistent will occur. This is why for the first year of the crisis the 80-20 rule was suspended. And to reinstate a significant threshold now, above say 30%, would be a clear policy failure. Yet that is the prospect facing the industry today," Walsh says. "The principal architect of this potential slot policy failure is once again the European Commission. Since the beginning of the crisis they have dragged their feet on providing swift, unambiguous slot relief, which is a recognised and completely standard response in times of temporary demand crisis," he says, crediting the European Council and Parliament for ensuring airlines have had the ability to make early slot returns this summer. Traffic activity within Europe has begun to climb as Covid travel restrictions within the European Union have been eased. Eurocontrol data for the first four days in July shows a further rise in average daily flights in the region, to over 22,000, and in flight activity for the period, representing 63% of pre-crisis levels. But Walsh cautions it is too early to draw conclusions from this improvement that it will be repeated over this coming winter season. "The Commission, threatening to insist on a 60% slot use threshold for the winter without the ability to make early slot returns, is reading far too much into a temporary summer bump in intra-EU traffic," he says. "Even if the summer reaches the traffic levels the Commission supposes, it is far from certain that this improvement will be maintained into the winter. Equally important is the fact that much of the traffic relevant to slot-constrained airports is long-haul traffic. This is at present set to be even lower than the feeble levels reached last winter, a period during which a full waiver of the slot rules was agreed." Some carriers, notably fast-expanding European low-cost carrier Wizz Air, have argued waiving the slot rules has prevented them from fully expanding at slot-constrained airports in Europe. Walsh though argues this is a "smokescreen". He says: "Under the current rules and situation, new carriers claims for access to airports are being met. The bottom line is that over the last 20 years route numbers have doubled, while prices have halved, during a period of minimal airport capacity growth." A European Commission official notes the slot use rate is still subject to a decision by the College of Commissioners, and that it is aware that airlines face low demand and uncertainties. "These elements, among others, are being assessed. Our goal is to ensure that airport capacity can be used efficiently for the benefit of all airlines and passengers."